2022 Best Value Colleges for Culinary Arts in Iowa (With Aid)

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Culinary Arts is the 80th most popular major in the country with 21,906 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, culinary arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $23,822 and had an average of $19,004 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 177 culinary arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,000 and $13,021 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in culinary arts. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great culinary arts programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the culinary arts program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid.

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Culinary Arts in Iowa (With Aid)

#1

Des Moines Area Community College

Ankeny, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$10,076 Average Net Price

$34,971 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Des Moines Area Community College. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. Des Moines Area Community College is a large school located in Ankeny, Iowa that handed out 60 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

DMACC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa” list. The estimated yearly cost for DMACC is $10,076 for Iowa Culinary Arts students with aid.

Full DMACC Culinary Arts Report

#2

Western Iowa Tech Community College

Sioux City, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$7,201 Average Net Price

$32,182 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Iowa Tech Community College landed the #2 spot on the list. Western Iowa Tech Community College is a medium-sized school located in Sioux City, Iowa that handed out 44 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Western Iowa Tech Community College, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $7,201 for Iowa Culinary Arts students with aid per year to attend Western Iowa Tech Community College.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Western Iowa Tech Community College

#3

Kirkwood Community College

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$10,939 Average Net Price

$35,536 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Kirkwood Community College. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this fairly large public school handed out 35 degrees to qualified ’s culinary arts students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Kirkwood Community College, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Kirkwood Community College is $10,939 for Iowa Culinary Arts students with aid.

Full Kirkwood Community College Culinary Arts Report

#4

Iowa Western Community College

Council Bluffs, Iowa

#4 in overall quality

$11,477 Average Net Price

$37,880 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Iowa Western Community College. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. This medium-sized school is located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and it awarded 16 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa Western Community College also took the #4 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $11,477 for Iowa Culinary Arts students with aid per year to attend Iowa Western Community College.

Full Iowa Western Community College Culinary Arts Report

• Best Value Colleges for Culinary Arts in the Plains States Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Colleges for Culinary Arts (With Aid)

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to U.S. Army Europe Images.

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